Karin, Just Karin
by purpleswans
Summary: It's not uncommon for souls to come to the Soul Society with muddled memories of their past, but they always at least remember their surnames. Karin is the exception. With nothing to go on except her first name, an abnormally high amount of Spiritual Pressure, and other strange powers she can't comprehend, Karin will need a lot of help to unravel the secrets of her past
1. Chapter 1

**Hey! So, here's another Karin-central story I came up with. This one will probably have a completely different tone to it from "The New Adventures of the Karakura Superheroes", and they do not exist in the same universe. It will also include HitsuKarin, and that pairing will play more of a part in this story that it will in the new Adventures of the Karakura Superheroes. It will also feature more of the Soul Reapers and people living in the Soul Society; right now my plan is to not bring in any of Ichigo and Karin's friends from the world of the Living till much later. And also, this will probably reference stuff that is Anime-only as well as stuff that is happening in the manga right now.**

**One more thing: I plan on trying really hard to stick to the Japanese way of saying names, withe the surname first. I will also try to include honorary suffixes, since they will play an important part later on in the story. If you ever notice me slip up, feel free to call me out on it. Constructive criticism is always appreciated.**

**Disclaimer: If you don't think I own it, I probably don't**

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_Who am I? _

The young girl opened her eyes. It was daytime, and the sun was blinding after keeping her eyes closed for so long. The world had a golden hue to it, and it wasn't until the girl had blinked several times that she was able to distinguish other colors. When her sight had cleared enough for her to see a little more clearly, she began to notice leaves and branches above her head.

_Where am I? _

The girl decided to try sitting up. Her body was stiff and hard to move, but she still managed to lift her torso. Slowly, she decided to try and stand up. It took her a little while, since she didn't have anyone or anything close by to help.

_What is this place? _

One she was standing, the girl started walking around, aimlessly trying to find something useful. There was nothing but foliage for miles around, but somehow she was eventually able to find a house in the middle of a clearing.

_Why am I here? _

The house was very strange, and the girl could understand why it was the only one around. With a couple of rockets holding up a sign that said "Kukaku Shiba: fireworks expert", it was very over-the-top and a little scary. The girl was considering ignoring the house and continuing her wandering, but her stomach decided to growl at that moment. Since as far as she was aware, this was the only place of residence for miles, she would have to try and find some food here.

_Who am I?_

The girl crept up to what appeared to be the door and knocked. Maybe, if she was lucky, the residents would be nice people who didn't mind sharing some of their food. When she had counted to 60 and nobody had answered the door, she decided that the place must either be abandoned, or the people who lived there weren't home at the moment. She thought about leaving to try and find somewhere else, but her stomach voiced such a loud complaint that she couldn't ignore it.

_When was the last time I ate?_

Praying that the house was actually abandoned, the young girl tried opening the door. It was unlocked, and when she pushed it open the hinges creaked. She stepped inside the doorway and was faced with a long, dark, descending stairway that seemed to go on forever into the darkness.

_How did I get into this mess?_

Deciding it was to late to go back now, the girl started to descend the staircase. She clung to the right wall for support, and tip-toed so that her footfalls would be as quiet as possible. The wall was dank and damp, but she still used it to guide her feet down the steps she couldn't see. Toward the end of her descent, she began to make out a bit of light coming from a doorway that led to a hall. The light gave her hope and something to reach for.

_What is down there? _

The girl finally reached the bottom of the stairs and stepped through the doorway. The walls of the lit hallway were lined with traditional Japanese sliding doors. The girl started opening each of them, hoping that she might find something to eat. Few of the rooms were furnished, supporting the girl's hope that nobody lived here anymore. What little objects were in the rooms were very strange: a box of sparklers, an almost empty barrel of gunpowder, a short sword, a box labeled "for the boars". The girl didn't take anything, trying to convince herself that she wasn't a robber despite coming here to steal food.

_Who am I?_

At the fifth door on the right the young girl finally found what she was looking for. It was a fully stocked kitchen, with several dishes already prepared and waiting for her on the stove. The rice balls and sushi rolls were already prepared, and the girl couldn't help but start scarfing them down.

_Why is this food here? _

It wasn't until she was on her third rice ball that the girl realized that there has to be a reason why the food was there. If there was food already prepared in this house, then either someone had known that a hungry girl was about to enter the abandoned house and left it there (which was highly unlikely), or someone was living in this house and she was stealing their food. She didn't want to be a thief but her hunger was so great that she couldn't stop herself until the entire plate was almost gone.

_What's going on with me?_

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

The girl dropped the piece of sushi she was about to put in her mouth. It landed on the ground, but she still was considering eating it. Luckily, she was dragged out that desperate thought by the presence of someone else in the room.

_Who is that? _

The other person was a young man, about 18 years old or so. He had a fairly big build, neither fat nor skinny nor excessively muscled. He wore a matching green bandana and vest with black the look on his face, he certainly hadn't expected to find a little girl in his kitchen eating his food.

_What should I do?_

Thinking quickly, the girl decided her best hope was to run. Since the other guy was standing in the door she had come from, she ran out the door on the other side of the room. Of course, that meant she was in unfamiliar territory. She would just have to keep running and hope she found an exit before the other guy caught up.

_Why is this happening to me?_

She ran as fast as possible with her eyes on the ground in front of her so she wouldn't trip or run into anything. Nonetheless, she didn't notice the woman until she was running into her.

_Who am I?_

The woman had the body of a warrior, including some battle scars in the form of a prosthetic limb. She had what looked like several bandages covering her head, so only some of her black hair was showing. The girl had just enough time to take in the basics of the woman's appearance before running into her and falling down.

_Who are these people? _

"Ne-san! You caught her!" The man came up behind the girl, praising the woman who stood in front of her.

"Ganju, you idiot!" Instead of joining in on her brother's rejoicing, the woman started to reprimand said brother. "What are you doing chasing a sacred girl around the house? I thought I taught you better!"

_Is she actually defending me?_

"But Ne-san! She ate all our lunch! Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko made us rice balls and sushi while we were out setting up for tonight's launch, but this little pipsqueak ate them all!"

"Well, I'm pretty sure she must have had a good reason if she is all by herself out here." The woman knelt down and looked at the girl. "You are hungry, aren't you? I can sense you've got a lot of spiritual pressure, which unfortunately means you can become faint from hunger. Come on, let's go get some more food. If you want you can have my ni-chan's portion." The woman helped the girl up and motioned for her to follow.

_Is she really helping me?_

When they got back to the kitchen, there were two giant men cooking to replace the food the girl had already eaten. At a word from the woman, they started cooking extra portions and served them to the young girl.

The girl felt that she ought to portray her gratitude. "Th...thank you..." she paused "I don't think i ever caught your name."

"Eh? Oh, it's Shiba Kukaku. That baka over there is my little brother, Shiba Ganju. And those two over there are Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko. And what's your name, by the way?"

_Who am I?_

The girl thought for a little while, absolutely positive that she should know the answer to that question at least. Finally, she gave up and just said what she knew.

"Karin. Just... Karin."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! I'm back again. It's a little short, but I think the next segment I have planned is most likely going to be very long and will take me some time to write. So, because I get a really happy feeling every time I see I got a review, follow or favorite, I am giving you something else to read. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, or Favorited this story!**

**Remember, If you don't think I own it I probably don't. And constructive criticism is always welcome!**

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It had been several weeks since Karin had first appeared at the Shiba clan's house, and she was starting to feel like she belonged there. After that first meal with the siblings, Kukaku had invited Karin to stay the night. Ganju had apologized for scarring her, and the next day Kukaku had managed to talk Karin into staying another night. Since Karin didn't have any knowledge of needing to be anywhere else, she let the Shiba clan leader convince her to stay over and over again, till Karin began to feel like this was where she belonged. And as far as she knew, it was the only place she belonged.

Kukaku and Ganju had talked with Karin a lot, trying to get to know their young guest. Unfortunately, the more they talked, the more Karin became frustrated with her lack of knowledge. Questions like "Where are you from?" and "Do you have any family left?" that should have been no-brainers escaped her, and Karin was starting to get worried.

"You shouldn't worry, Karin-chan," Kukaku would try to comfort her, "It probably just means that you died recently and your memories are just muddled upright now. It happens to a lot of people. And till you get your memories back, you're welcome to stay with us."

Although Karin appreciated the sentiment, she was still worried.

Despite those worrisome thoughts, living with the Shiba clan was pretty nice. Every meal was cooked by the two giants, and Karin definitely wasn't going hungry. Every day, Ganju would head out with his friends on their pet boars, and sometimes he would take Karin with him and show her around town. Although it was still pretty far away, the West Rukon district was the closest urban area to the house. It was there that Karin would wander around the marketplace, looking at everything that was being sold. Although Ganju offered to buy her anything she wanted, Karin always declined his offer. She wasn't really interested in buying anything, just looking.

But as much as she liked taking in all the sights, Karin really preferred all the people she met in town. There were several old men who would smile at her when she waved at them, and most of the grownups she ran into would be nice and pleasant. The kids were absolutely adorable, if a little delinquent and bratty at times. But there were also a bunch of teenagers close to Karin's age, and they were really fun to hang out with. Karin found that she made friends easily, and almost everyone she met became her friend.

But it wasn't her new friends that Karin found to be the best part of living with the Shiba clan, as petty as that may sound. What she really enjoyed the most were the evenings. Not evening, mind you, but about every third night Kukaku would test out her most recent brand of fireworks and put on a show. It would be those evenings that Karin would sit back on the ground not that far from the launch and just let herself enjoy the moment. There was something about watching the colorful explosions that put her mind at peace, and it was one of the only moments she wasn't constantly worrying about her lack of memories.

"You really enjoy watching these, don't you Karin-chan?" Kukaku enjoyed trying to catch the girl off guard. For some reason, Karin had amazing reflexes and it was almost impossible for her to be surprised. Probably the only times she could be slightly surprised by anything was when she was watching the fireworks.

"Of course, they're beautiful. And since you made them, they are obviously the best." Karin smiled at Kukaku. Even though she had every reason and right to chase Karin out onto the street, the woman had been welcoming and warm toward her. Karin wasn't sure what she would have done if it weren't for Kukaku and Ganju.

Kukaku smiled at Karin. "You know Karin, I've been thinking. I'm not sure I like the idea of having a permanent guest in my house..."

Karin's face fell. But then again, she should have known. Something as amazing as what had been going on for the past few weeks couldn't last. However, after seeing what she did when Ganju decided to piss her off, Karin did not want to get on Shiba Kukaku's bad side.

"I understand, Shiba-sama. I'll get ready to leave tonight..." though where she would go, she had no idea.

"Hey! Don't go expecting the worse when I haven't even finished talking yet!" Karin turned to Kukaku, surprised to see the woman with a joking look on her face. "Jeez, why do you think I hate you so much? It's starting to get annoying." Kukaku smiled. "What I actually was going to say, is that I wouldn't mind the idea of a little Imouto-chan to share things with"

Karin was dumbfounded. "You mean... you actually want me to be your Imouto-chan?"

"Yep. I already ran it past Ganju, and he would love to welcome you to the family. So how about it, Karin-chan? Do you want to be a Shiba?"

Karin considered Kukaku's offer carefully. On one hand, Kukaku and Ganju were really nice people and would be wonderful siblings. Kukaku had already told Karin about her older brother Kaien. She never mentioned how or why he died, but she did express how much she loved and missed him. Ganju didn't talk about it, but Karin suspected that was just how he deals with it. The fact is, Kaien's death had left a deep hole in both siblings' hearts, and Karin suspected that it was her presence that was starting to help them. They were good people and had been nothing but kind to her.

But on the other hand, there was the matter of her missing memories. There was a chance - very slight, but still a chance - that Karin already had a family that loved and missed her that she couldn't remember. For all Karin knew, she already had a mother and father and a brother and sister that were waiting for her to come home.

"You don't have to answer me right away. I know it's a big decision." Kukaku started to walk away and leave Karin to her thoughts.

"No, wait!" Karin called back. "I already have my answer. I would be honored to call you my o-nee-san." If Karin did have a family that she couldn't remember, she would just deal with it when the time came.

Kukaku smiled. "Hey Ganju! Karin agreed!"

"Really? Yay!" Ganju attacked Karin with an overbearing hug that Karin barely avoided, making the older boy fall slam into the ground. Of course, Ganju immediately popped back up and started patting her head. "Hey, you've already got those Shiba reflexes. Now all you need to do is practice calling me o-nii-san. Come on on, I wanna hear you say it. Repeat after me: o-nii-san."

"O-nii-san..." As soon as she said it, the word felt wrong on her lips. No, the word itself wasn't wrong per say, but it was as though she knew it was meant to refer to someone else. That word was meant to be associated with someone... warm and comforting. Someone who protects her, someone she adores. And someone who is somehow associated with strawberries and the color orange.

Karin shook the feelings off. Like she had already decided, she would deal with whoever or whatever her memories led to when the time came. But at least now, she knew she wouldn't have to deal with them alone. She was no longer just Karin. She was Shiba Karin.

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**Reviews make my world go round!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey! sorry if you thought you where getting another chapter, but I'm just updating this chapter since my computer was being wierd when I published it the first time and I wasn't able to proofread it or add Author's Notes. I am working on the next chapter, but since I was buisy most of this weekend it's still not finished.**

**Also, big THANK YOU to the guest reviewer who pointed out my incorrect use of honorifics. I have, quite frankly, never taken a formal class in Japanese, and only know what I do from Google and watching a lot of Anime. if you see any problems, don't be afraid to tell me. I think I fixed it, and will make an effort to not make the same mistake again. This is still kind of a learning process for me.**

**Disclaimer: If you don't think I own it, I probably don't**

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"Karin! Pass the ball already!"

Karin was dragged out of her inner musings by her friend's cry. It had been nearly a month since she had been officially adopted into the Shiba clan, and her life was pretty good. She had an amazing nee-sama and a really cool nii-san, and she had also made several friends in the district. Right now, they were playing a ball game called soccer while Ganju fooled around with his idiot friends on their wild boars. Karin found that she really enjoyed soccer. For some reason, she found it relaxing and almost familiar.

"Ok, ok, I'm kicking it." She brought back her leg sent the ball flying with a hard kick in the perfect spot. None of her friends could kick it as far as she could, though she had tried to show them that if you make it contact with the center of the foot it had more control and power. She didn't know how she knew this, she just knew.

"Hey Karin, you seem really distracted today. What's up?" One of the guys she was with ran up to her, worried.

"It's nothing. Just some kind of bad feeling. And I think I'm getting a headache." Karin didn't want other people to worry about her, but ever since they had come to this empty clearing to play she had felt this ominous aura, like something bad was coming. She just couldn't shake it.

The other teenager shrugged and got back in the game. Everyone who met Karin learned to deal with her occasional weirdness. It was just a part of her.

A couple of minutes later, Karin's headache had grown painful enough to force her to take a break and sit on the sidelines. The ominous feeling just kept getting worse. It was starting to seriously bother Karin. That is, until the relative peace of the game shattered.

Karin heard the monster before she saw it. It had a roar that seemed to swallow up all other sounds, leaving only its own echo in the surrounding air. When it came in through the trees, she could barely comprehend its monstrous form. The limbs and body bore a closer resemblance to an ape than to a human being, though it was about 10 times larger than any ape Karin had ever seen. Its face was covered in a bone white mask that bore a little resemblance to a human face.

Everybody screamed. "It's a hollow! It's a hollow! Somebody get a Soul Reaper!"

So this was what a hollow looked like. Karin had heard many of her friends talk about how scared they were of the monsters. They ate souls and terrorized the people in the Rukon district, and the only people who could fight them were the Soul Reapers. Not that Karin had ever seen a Soul Reaper, but that was probably cause she didn't know where to look or have a reason to search. The only personal connection she was aware she had was that Kaien-nii had been a high ranking officer before her was killed as a result of a Hollow attack.

Karin quickly got up off the ground and started to run away from the Hollow like the rest of her playmates, but she heard one of her friends shriek louder than the rest, and much closer to the Hollow. She glanced behind her and saw one of the guys get snatched up by the Hollow's massive fist. The boy cried for help as he was brought ever closer to the Hollow's razor sharp teeth...

Karin couldn't just sit by. She turned and ran up to where the soccer ball had been abandoned. "Hey, pasty-face!" She goaded the monster.

When it heard her, the Hollow turned away from the boy and looked at her.

"Eat this!" Karin kicked the ball as hard as she could. It did hit the Hollow's mask, but it just bounced right off.

_Brilliant. Now it's angry. _

The good news: the Hollow dropped the boy and stopped trying to eat him. The bad news: it was now interested in Karin. With her only weapon already launched, she realized that her only defense would be to run. She took off in a different direction from where everyone else had gone and tried to lead the monster away. At least, if she did get eaten, she could at least save her friends.

Unfortunately, she had greatly underestimated the Hollow's speed. She didn't even reach the edge of the clearing when the Hollow was already on top of her. It pinned her down, putting its full weight on her back, practically crushing her. It open its mouth and licked her with an incredibly large, unbelievably wet tongue.

_Disgusting! _

"You taste good," the Hollow whispered. "I think i'll take you back to my den and savor you, with all your hidden spirit energy..."

Karin wiggled, trying desperately to get out from the Hollow's grip. She was determined not to be dinner. At least, not without giving it a piece of her mind. Unfortunately, she didn't see a way out of the situation on her own.

"Help! Help me, somebody! Anybody!" She shrieked.

The Hollow chuckled. "Nobody can hear you little girl. And even if they could, none of them have enough power to make a difference. Except you, of course."

_Me, powerful? _Right now, Karin felt the opposite of powerful.

"None of the Soul Reapers are close enough to help you. Except, wait, NO!" The Hollow suddenly picked her up in his immovable grip and started running. Was it taking her somewhere else to eat in peace, or was it actually scared of something?

"Help! Hey, help me!"

"Shut up, you little bitch!" The Hollow slammed her into a tree, probably causing a concussion. Good, so he was scared of something and didn't want her to be heard.

"Help! It's a Hollow!"

"Extend, Hozukimaru!" A voice Karin didn't recognize cut through the air, and it was followed by a long staff cutting into the Hollow's arm. This caused the Hollow to drop her, but she was saved from landing harshly by someone catching her and whisking her away to a safe distance.

Karin looked at her saviors. There where two of them, one that was attacking the Hollow and the one who had carried her out of danger. The one that was fighting had a was wielding a long staff with a blade at one end and a decorative knot on the other. His head was shaved, and Karin could even see it shine when the sun hit his skull. He was smiling as he slashed and stabbed, purely enjoying the fight.

The one that had caught her looked like he continuously put effort into his appearance. He had a full head of pitch black hair as well as two different colored feathers somehow stuck to his head. He had a sheathed Kantana on his hip.

Both men wore black Kimonos tied with a white cord. Karin didn't think she had seen that kind of a Kimono before, but for some reason... she felt that it was comforting. When she closed her eyes she could see the back of a similar kimono and felt... protected.

"Well, Yumichika and I were worried we wouldn't have any fun today. You may be a small fry, but I'll see if you can still give me a pretty good fight, if only for a little while." The bald guy laughed as his fight against the Hollow continued.

Karin watched the battle from her place on the sidelines. After a while she found that there was something bothering her. She turned to the man beside her. "Uh, hey, I just realized I don't know your name. I'm Shiba Karin. Thanks for saving me."

"Hm? Oh, it's nothing." The man waved her off, paying more attention to the fight. "I'm Yumichika, and that's Ikkaku. We're the fifth and third seats of squad eleven in the 13 court guard squads. It's our job to fight Hollows, and our squad specializes in combat. Honestly, we were relieved to finally have something to do. It has been a very slow day."

"So, you're soul Reapers?"

"Yes. I thought I just said that?"

"Uh... maybe?" Karin was starting to think, despite the fact that they saved her life, that she wasn't a big fan of these particular Soul Reapers.

Finally, after the battle had dragged on for far longer than Karin thought was necessarily, the bald Soul Reaper called Ikkaku slashed the Hollow's mask. It disintegrated into nothing and Ikaku somehow turned his rod into a Katana. He put his sword in his sheath and put both sword and sheath in his belt.

"That guy was weak. It wasn't any fun at all." He walked up to Karin. "Hey, little girl, you really ought to work on reining in your spiritual pressure. That is unless you want to get attacked by Hollows all the time."

"Spiritual... Pressure?" Karin remembered hearing that term from Kukaku-nee and Ganju-nee a few times. "Rein it in?"

"Wow, you really don't have a clue, do you?" The one called Yumichika looked at her with a hint of scorn. "You have a ton of spiritual pressure, and that attracts Hollows. You can learn to suppress it with practice, and if you do that you'll be less of a danger to those around you."

"But... who could teach me?"

"Well, if you go to the academy and train to become a Soul Reaper like Yumichika and I, they will teach you that as well as how to fight." Ikkaku explained. "You know, despite your wimpy attitude and general lack of know-how, you wouldn't make a bad soul Reaper."

"WHAT KIND OF ATTITUDE?"

Both of them ignored her. "What are you talking about, Ikkaku?" Yumichika asked.

"Well, you remember what the kids who told us a Hollow had taken their friend said. She had tried to fight it off in order to save her friend. Really stupid move, but she gets points for guts."

"HEY! I'M RIGHT HERE! QUIT TALKING ABOUT ME LIKE THAT! "

"Karin!"

Karin turned towards the sound of her name. She had never been more relieved to see Ganju-nii in her life. Even if he did look like an idiot riding his pet boar Bonnie.

"Karin! Are you all right? I came as soon as I heard." He ran up and started hugging her. "I was really worried. I thought..." he then noticed the two Soul Reapers. "You!"

Yumichika pointed to himself. "Me?"

"Yeah, you! Don't you remember me?"

"Sorry, but I tend to block out memories of ugly things."

"Why you..." Karin couldn't tell whether or not Ganju was actually mad. "I'm Shiba Ganju, the self-proclaimed..."

"Nobody wants to know how awesome you are in your own mind, Ganju-nii." Karin bluntly stated.

"But Karin-chan..."

Yumichika snapped his fingers. "Now I remember you! You were that other Rioka boy from that incident with Kuchiki-fukutaicho and Ichigo. The one that could do something with sand."

"You know, Yumichika, we need to work on being more polite. He isn't just Ichigo-san anymore, he is Kurosaki-taicho." Ikkaku chastised his friend.

"I know, but when you see Ichigo, do you think 'I need to be all formal with this guy?'" Yumichika countered.

"Wait, Ichigo became a Taicho?" Ganju asked. Although Karin had never heard the name Kurosaki Ichigo before in her life, she could tell he must be someone important that Ganju-nii knew.

"Yeah. Squad 8." Ikkaku sighed and put his sword over his shoulder. "Well, I guess our job is done. Hey, little girl?"

"I have a name you know. It's Shiba Karin!"

"Yeah, whatever. Think about what i said about the academy. Even if you don't plan on joining the 13 Court Guard Squads, you need to learn how to control your spirit energy."

"And don't forget!" Yumichika called as both Soul Reapers walked away, "If you do decide to join up, squad eleven is the best in fighting!"

"In other words, the one I would least want to join" Karin muttered under her breath.

Ganju-nii frowned. "What were they referring to?"

"Oh, apparently I have high amounts of spiritual pressure, and they told me I should learn how to suppress it, and suggested that I become a Soul Reaper."

"Hm." Ganju grunted. "Well, I guess there is some truth to that. But becoming a Soul Reaper is a big decision, and O-nee-san and I can teach you at least the basics anyway. I wouldn't make any rash decisions."

Karin nodded. "Let's go home, Ganju-nii."

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	4. Chapter 4

**Hey! It's me again. When I posted the last chapter, my computer was being strange and i hadn't been able to proofread and edit in the doc manager how I like to, and that chapter came out with a few problems. I've fixed it now, and hopefully it won't happen again, but in case you where wondering why it had issues...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it.**

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It had been several days since Karin had been attacked by that Hollow. She had talked with Kukaku-nee and Ganju-nii about what had happened, but they weren't very surprised or worried. They both had sensed her power the first day they met, and had planned on teaching her to control it when she became more aware of what she could do. They both had high spirit energy, as well as most of their family. Their own o-nii-san, Kaien, had been a fukutaicho in the 13 court guard squads.

However, when it came to her joining the Soul Reapers, they all avoided the subject. Karin had asked Koganehiko and Shiroganehiko why that was, and they had explained the circumstances of Kaien-nii's death. Turns out, he had been doing his duty as a Soul Reaper when a Hollow possessed his body and forced one of his subordinates to kill him. When she heard the story she started to understand why they would be unwilling to consider her leaving them to join the 13 court guard squads. She was helping them fill the void left by Kaien-nii's death, they certainly didn't want to loose her as they did him.

As of right now, Karin was content to just stay as Shiba Karin, Kukaku and Ganju's imoto-san. She was learning how to control her spirit energy from Kukaku-nee and Ganju-nii, and the Soul Reapers seemed to be doing just fine without her. Besides, if they were all like those guys she had met, she wasn't sure she would want to work with them.

There was one bad thing that came from the Hollow attack: Kukaku and Ganju had become even more protective of her. On the days she wasn't training at the house, Ganju would still take her into town, but he wouldn't leave her alone to hang out with his friends. She usually had to ride one of his stupid boars with him instead of hanging out with the other kids her age and possibly play a game of soccer. She was starting to prefer staying at home and training. She was getting annoyed with her brother.

But today, a miracle had happened. Kukaku-nee needed a special substance for her fireworks, and it was only sold in the districts close to the Seireitei. She had sent Ganju-nii and Karin to district 1 since it was cheapest there. When they got to the shop, Ganju had told her that it would take a while, and since the area was extremely safe it would be ok if she wandered around on her own for a while.

Now, Karin was walking down the streets of district 1 determined to enjoy her day away from an overprotective nii-chan. It was different from the lower districts she was used to. District 1 had a much higher standard of living, and the Soul Reapers had a much greater presence. That was probably the reason Ganju had felt it was safe to leave her alone, so she wasn't complaining. The houses where slightly more apart, and everyone looked healthier and more well-fed. Since she didn't know anybody there, she decided to try making friends.

"Hey!" She called out to a guy close to her age walking down the street. "Are you from around here?"

The boy turned when he realized she was talking to him, but just scowled and continued walking away.

Karin blinked in surprise. Guess another difference was that the people here where really rude. She tried saying "hi" to several other teens her age, but had the same response.

Finally, she tried being friendly to the adults. Though they weren't as obvious as the kids, they also where much less pleasant to her than they were to everyone else. They returned her greetings, but didn't converse with her more than what was socially necessary. Even the shopkeepers treated her with less respect than the average paying customer when she stopped by a sweet shop for a snack.

"Is it cause I'm not from around here?" She wondered aloud while snaking on her candy. "I mean, nobody had any problems with me in the other districts we visited."

"I'm afraid that isn't it, young lady." Karin was startled by a voice behind her. She turned around and found the person who had spoken. It was a small old lady, not apparently richer or poorer than the average of the district. She appeared to be alone.

"What do you think it is, ba-san?" Karin asked.

"It's your spiritual pressure. They unconsciously know it's high and are afraid of you. The way people around here deal with things that scare them is to make it feel unwelcome." The old woman smiled at Karin. "They used to do the same things to my grandson."

"What happened to him?" Karin asked. She was a little worried, if this was how they had treated somebody who lived in the area, then if they did something bad to him she should get out soon.

"Oh, he went on to become a Taicho in the 13 court guard squads. I'm quite proud of my Shiro-chan. How about you help this old lady home and I'll tell you more about him?"

Karin nodded and took the old woman's arm, protecting her from the bumps in the road that would otherwise have tripped her. Although most of the story would most likely be just an old lady reminiscing on the past and bragging about her grandson, Karin really wanted to hear about one of the Soul Reaper Taichos. They continued walking until they got to a slightly run down house the old woman indicated was hers.

After Karin had helped the old woman in her house, she was invited to stay and have some tea. Karin graciously accepted, since she had nowhere else she had to be. Once they finished getting the tea ready, the two of them just sat in the den and talked. Well, the old woman talked and Karin listened.

She talked a lot about her Grandson. There was another granddaughter she mentioned a few times, but primarily she talked about her Grandson. Apparently, he wasn't really her Grandson by blood, but Karin had heard of several other cases in the Rukon District where people made families with people they weren't related to. Her Grandson had been a sweet kid, even if he could be a brat at times. Part of it might have had to do how the others in their district had treated him worse than Karin, but the fact still remained that the only people he had opened up to or shown any affection towards was the old woman and her granddaughter. It had been very difficult for him when the granddaughter had left for the Shin'o academy, though he had tried to hide it.

Shortly afterwards, the old Woman had started to fall ill. The poor boy didn't have a clue, but he had been unconsciously leaking his icy spirit energy when he slept and it had been affecting the old woman. It wasn't until a young lady Soul Reaper had found him in the middle of the night that he found out what he was doing. He then decided that he needed to learn how to control his spirit energy and asked the old woman for her blessing to become a Soul Reaper. Now he was a Captain in the 13 court guard squads, but still came to visit whenever he could.

When Karin heard the story, she felt a little sorry for the boy. Not only had he been treated badly by the other people in town, but his own power had inadvertently hurt the person closest to him. For this particular situation, becoming a Soul Reaper had been a good thing.

The old woman continued telling Karin all about her grandson, and both of them lost track of time. It wasn't until she heard a Ganju-nii calling her in the distance that Karin realized how late it is.

"I'm afraid i'm going to have to leave soon. That's my o-nii-san calling me." Karin stood up and bowed to the old woman. "Thank You for the tea and company, Ba-san."

"Oh, you don't need to be so formal with me, Karin-chan. Just call me Ba-chan."

Karin smiled. "All right, ba-chan."

"Oh and please come by and visit again. I like having young people in this house."

"All right." Karin turned to go, but caught sight of a futon on the floor that ba-chan had said she kept for when her grandson visited. When she saw it and was reminded of his story, Karin realized that she had unconsciously made a decision. "I'll tell you what, the next time I visit, i'll be a Soul Reaper. Then you can tell me which squad your grandson is in so I can drag him with me."

Ba-chan laughed at that.

Karin followed the sound of Ganju-nii's voice. When she finally caught up, Ganju was glad to see her.

"Did you have a nice time, Karin-chan?" He asked.

"Yep." Karin replied. "And don't let me forget, there's something I need to talk with you and o-nee-sama about."

* * *

Karin was kneeling in the Shibas' living room, bowing to Kukaku-nee-sama and Ganju-nii. She had just announced her intentions to become a Soul Reaper, and was waiting for their... approval? Blessing? Scorn? Karin didn't even know what to expect from them. But Karin did know that she had made her decision and was going to follow through, no matter what they said.

"So... you plan on becoming a Soul Reaper." Kukaku stated.

"Uh, yes Kukaku-nee-sama."

"Would you quit being so formal with me? I'm your nee-san. I may not be happy about it, but this is your decision and I can tell that you've made up your mind." Kukaku sighed. "If you're looking for my blessing or whatever, you've got it."

"Nee-san..." Ganju looked sad, but didn't object. He probably had hoped that Kukaku would stop Karin, but since that didn't happen he would just stay quiet.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. If there's one thing i've learned about you, Karin, it's that you are not the kind of person that does well being cooped up in this house." Kukaku-nee went on. "You want to do things, change what's going on, protect people. You will be a great Soul Reaper."

Karin smiled, relieved that her nee-san understood. "Thank You, Kukaku-nee."

"If you want, I can help you study for the entrance exam. It will primarily be testing your amount of Spiritual Pressure and how much control you already have over it, but studying is still a good idea."

"I would appreciate that." Karin then turned to Ganju to judge his reaction.

Ganju-nii seemed to be dealing with an internal struggle. When he realized Karin was looking at him, expecting a response, he sighed and appeared to submit. "I guess it's all right, now that I know not all Soul Reapers are major Jerks. I know of a couple of guys I can get to look out for you."

"You don't have to do that, Ganju-nii, but I appreciate the sentiment." Karin smiled and bowed to her siblings again. "I am really grateful for your support."

Kukaku smiled. "Just try not to make us look like fools or get killed, ok Karin-chan?"

"I will."

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**Please Read, Review, Follow and Favorite! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey! Sorry I'm so late with the update. First I discovered a few really good fics to read, then my internet was down... plus, I had a hard time convincing myself to do this chapter since I'm entering OC land and am going to have to start making decisions that will affect the rest of this story.**

**Anyway, just wanted to shout out to all my lovely readers that reviews, follows, and favorites are always appreciated, (expecialy if it has constructive critizism), and I am still on the market for a Beta. I also wouldn't mind it if someone gave me permision to use their fan art for this story. The one I'm using right now is off the internet, so I'm open to suggestions!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Bleach.**

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Karin stood at the Academy entrance. This was it, after months of studying and waiting, she was finally going to start her first year at Shin'o Academy. She had studied for months with Kukaku-nee to take the entrance exam, but when she did take the test it had been extremely easy. It wasn't like it didn't have a few challenges, because it did, but she had still been confident she had at least passed. She had been justified in her confidence, as they discovered when her results came back over a month later. Kukaku-nee, Ganju-nii and everyone else who had seen her scores had praised her for how high they were, but Karin didn't understand half the statistics that had been included. The only part she had been interested in was the attached acceptance letter. She didn't care about how she stood relative to the other applicants, only that she had made the cut.

Now, after ditching her Nii-san who had insisted on taking her to her first day at the academy (much to her annoyance. She didn't want to be known simply as the girl with the crazy brother), she was about to take her first steps to becoming a Soul Reaper. She was feeling so many many emotions; fear, anxiety, excitement, nervousness, happiness. There were so many emotions, they summed up to make her feel numb. But that numbness was a good thing, it made her think and see clearly. It allowed her to face the impending future bravely.

She was already dressed in her uniform, with a red hakama, a white kosode with red decorations, white socks and black sandals. She had all the extra things she had decided to bring in a bag swung over her shoulder. She had only packed the necessities, she didn't want to drag a ton of stuff to the dorms on her first day.

Taking a deep breath and deliberately not looking back, Karin walked forward through the gates. She was surrounded by other girls wearing the same uniform, as well as boys wearing a uniform that was similar, but blue instead of red. They were all rushing around, seeming to know exactly where they were supposed to be.

Karin checked the signs posted around the buildings, telling all first-year students to report to registration to get their dorm assignments and class schedules. She followed the arrows to a row of tables with several teachers handing out packets to the students.

"Name?" The instructor asked Karin when she got to the front of the crowd.

"Shiba Karin."

The teacher looked up, surprised for a few seconds. It quickly passed, and she returned to sifting through the papers until she found a specific packet with the name Shiba Karin labeled on the front.

"Here you go, Shiba-dono." the teacher smiled as he handed Karin her packet.

Karin took the packet with a small "thank you," though she was a little put off be the formality. She knew that the Shiba clan was actually a high-ranking noble family, but nobody in the Rukon district had felt the need to address her or her family formally. Maybe it was just because they all knew what they were like.

Karin looked at the packet and found her dorm assignment and a map. She quickly found her future bedroom on the map and start heading that way, relived it wasn't that far.

Her dorm was plain, built in the same style as the surrounding buildings. Her room was devoid of any furniture or distinguishing features, save a futon to sleep in and a small desk to do homework on. Karin plopped her bag on the floor and started unpacking her things.

She had just finished putting the last of her books on the desk when she heard someone at the door.

"Oh! Hi there." A girl a little older than Karin stood in her doorway and gave a short bow in greeting. "I'm Keiko. Suzuki Keiko. I live in the room next to yours."

Karin faced her visitor and returned the bow of greeting. "I'm Shiba Karin. Pleased to meet you!"

"Karin-sama?" Keiko looked taken aback. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize..."

"Don't worry about it." Karin assured her. Really, if she was going to have this discussion every time she introduced herself, she might consider using a different surname. "Just call me Karin-chan. I've only been in the Shiba clan for a few months, you don't have to be so formal with me."

"But the Shibas used to be one of the great noble clans!" Keiko exclaimed, then resigned herself. "But, I suppose, if you insist Karin-san..."

Happy that she was at least given that much familiarity, Karin took out her packet and handed it to Keiko. "Hey, do you know if we have any classes together? My schedule is in there."

Keiko looked at Karin's schedule and pulled out her own. After a moment of observation, she handed Karin back her packet. "It seems we have History of the Soul Society 101 and Intro to Kido together, but that's it. I take it you plan on joining the 13 Court Guard Squads?"

"You mean you don't?" Karin had always thought the only reason anyone went to the Academy was to become a Soul Reaper.

"Nope." Keiko shrugged. "I'm horrible at fighting. Can't even find the stomach to squash a bug when I find one in the house. I'm hoping to join the Kido Corps."

Karin made a mental note to find out about what exactly the Kido Corps were. Luckily, Karin was saved from admitting her ignorance when a black butterfly flew in and rested on her finger.

"Attention all First-Year students. Please report to the auditorium for the entrance ceremony." A voice came out of the Butterfly. Karin had to guess these butterflies were a method of communication.

"Guess we better start heading that way." Karin sighed. "Want to walk together?"

Keiko jumped up. "Sure!"

As they walked in the same direction as most of the crowd, Karin listened to Keiko chatter. Turns out she was from a low-ranking noble family, and everyone in her family was expected to be involved in the defense of the Seireitei in some form or another. Because of her temperament, one of her favorite aunts had suggested she join the Kido Corps and be used primarily in creating barriers and holding prisoners. She had taken the entrance exam repeatedly over the past several years and had met the qualifications for entering the academy every time, but this was the first time she had met the requirements for the pre-Kido Corps track. Not that Karin had exactly asked for this information. Keiko had volunteered everything.

When the two of them made it to the auditorium, they took the next two available seats. Keiko continued telling Karin everything about herself until an older instructor took the stage and started making a long speech about the history of the school and the prestige of the graduates.

Karin half listened to the long-winded speaker. The history wasn't really that interesting, and quite frankly, Karin country think of several other things she could be doing right now that was more productive. She did start listening more intently when his tone changed.

"And now I would like to recognize the 10 students who scored the highest on the entrance exam this year." He started reading off several names Karin forgot as soon as they were said, and the students who went by those names stood so the rest of the student body could give them a round of applause.

"Kira Nagami." The girl who obviously held that name stood up with a smug look on her face. Karin immediately hated her.

"And finally, the current number one in this class, Shiba Karin."

Karin blinked in surprise. She had known her scores were good but didn't realize they were that good. Nevertheless, she stood up and let the other students clap and stare at her in awe. Karin noticed that the girl who had gotten second, Kira Nagami, was glaring at her. Karin glared back.

The applause died down and Karin sat back down. The speaker continued his monotone draw for a little while longer before finally letting them go to get some rest before tomorrow, when classes would begin.

"You didn't tell me you placed the highest in our class!" Keiko exclaimed.

"I didn't really know." Karin shrugged. Of course, now that she thought about it, she did remember seeing something along those lines in the statistics that came with her scores.

"Hey, are you Shiba-san?"

Karin turned around and faced a boy close to her age. His hair was dark brown and wild, and his eyes made her think he was planning something mischievous. To his side there was a white haired guy who looked to be from a wealthy home, if a little sickly.

"Yeah. Who wants to know?"

The wild boy pointed to himself. "I'm Watanabe Junji, 5th in our class. And this here is Ukitake Gyou, 6th in our class." He was indicating the sickly boy to his side.

"It's an honor to meet you, Shiba-dono." Gyou bowed to Karin.

"Huh?" Junji looked surprised at his friend's gesture. "Are you some kind of a noble? I'm sorry, I grew up in the 66th district of East Rukon."

"It's ok." Karin waved off the formality. "I'm new to the family, and besides, I'm not even sure the Shiba clan is noble anymore. Kukaku-nee and Ganju-nii certainly don't act like it, and we live in West Rukon. Don't worry about it."

"Really?" Gyou asked. "Then, is it OK if we call you Karin-san?" Suddenly, the white-haired boy smirked, looking as mischievous as his friend for a moment. "Or how about Kar-chan?"

"Uh..." Karin wasn't sure about that nickname.

"Now if you call her that, it sounds like she's your mother or something." Junji shook his head. "We should call her Rin-chan. It sounds cooler."

Karin didn't think it sounded that much cooler, but she did appreciate their gesture. She could tell this would be the beginning of a pretty good friendship.

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**Don't forget to Review, follow and favorite!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Happy Pi Day! Ok, this one probably could have easily been two chapters, but since not much happened in the first part, I decided to put them together. I'm not so sure about some of the stuff in the second part, so don't be afraid to critique. I tried to get a little more into describing the characters, and I finally was able to introduce the one OC I have had planned since the beginning. I hope you enjoy!  
**

**Disclimer: I don't own anything other than the plot and my OCs**

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"Hurry! We don't want to be late on our first day!" Keiko shouted at Karin.

"I'm coming! Geez, the bell doesn't ring for another 5 minutes. I think we'll we fine." Karin grumbled, unhappy that her breakfast had been cut short by her friend's urgency to get to class.

"But if we wait to long, all the best seats will be taken!" Keiko whined. "If you sit in the first row, your chances of paying better attention and getting better grades goes up. If we want to succeed, we need to get seats in the front!"

"I'm sure the second row will be just fine." Karin pointed out. "Besides, I'm not interested in getting the best grades. I just want to pass and become a Soul Reaper. I'll leave the high honors to people who actually care about that kind of stuff."

"Well, you can slack off if you want. You obviously have lots of natural talent, so you can afford to. But if I want to get into something as prestigious as the Kido Corps, I have to study hard!" Keiko continued rambling as they walked into their homeroom class, which was unsurprisingly empty. "I hear Bakudo theory is the weed-em-out class. And basic incantations is considered one of the hardest first-year classes at the academy. I'm definitely going to have to study this year!"

"Uh huh." Karin nodded, not really paying attention to her loquacious friend. To be honest, she still hadn't completely woken up yet, despite the two cups of tea she had already drunk. Her mind was still dwelling on that dream.

She had started having that dream since she had first decided to become a Soul Reaper. She didn't have any concept of where the dream took place or what she was doing in it, but she could always remember the voice she couldn't tell you who the voice belonged to or where it came from, but she did know what it said.

_Remember! Remember, and find him!_

Unfortunately, as soon as she started gaining consciousness and clarity and got rid of her drowsiness, she would forget the dream. As such, she never got around to telling Kukaku-nee or Ganju-nii about it. She didn't have a clue what the voice was talking about. Did it have something to do with her missing memories?

"Hey, Rin-chan!"

Karin looked up. The two guys she had met after the ceremony were coming her way and sat down next to her. Karin was glad to see them again, though she couldn't remember their names to save her life.

"I told you Junji-san, it's Kar-chan. Rin-chan sounds to strange."

Right, Junji was the wild one who looked like pick a fight with the whole school, and might possibly be able to survive the battle. Which made the sickly white-haired one...

"I still say it sounds like you're calling her your mother, Gyou-kun. And quit being so formal with me, we're gonna be living next to each other for at least the rest of the year."

Karin piped up. "So you guys are living in the same dorm?"

"Yes." Gyou confirmed. "We met when we moved in, and since i noticed he didn't have much more than the clothes on his back I offered to loan him some of my supplies. One thing led to another, and next thing I know I am being dragged across campus to try and pick up some so-called 'cute chicks'." He frowned. "Although, how chickens and women correlate, I will never know."

Junji put his arm around Gyou's shoulders. "You, my young apprentice, have led a very sheltered life with your nobles and Taichous for your uncles, but those of us who grew up in the edges of the Rukon district have learned to appreciate life. And one of life's few finer things is the lips of a pretty woman..."

"I'm going to pretend that comment wasn't demeaning of my sex." Karin cut in. She turned to Gyou. "So you have a relative whose a taichou?"

Gyou nodded, looking a little embarrassed. "Jushiro-ji is the taichou of squad 13. He's my great uncle." He gave a weak smirk. "He's actually the main reason I decided to join the 13 Court Guard Squads. Growing up, he was my favorite relative in our large family, and I want to be just like him."

At that moment, all talking in the room came to an abrupt halt as the teacher walked in. He was a balding middle-aged man wearing the black Kimono of the Soul Reapers with a sheathed Katana attached to his belt. He sat on at his desk in the front of the room and opened a book.

"Please raise your hand and say 'here' when I call your name." He started listings off the names of everyone in the classroom, and they all responded.

"Kira Nagami."

"Here!"

Karin turned to see the girl who had glared at her in the ceremony sitting a ways back. Great, looks like she was going to have to deal with whatever her problem was during class. Or at least, Homeroom.

The names continued to be read off, including Junji's, Keiko's, Gyou' and Karin's. When he finished, he closed his book and stood up.

"This is the Advanced Class." He began.

_Great, another long winded speech. _

"All of you are here because you showed exceptional skill and potential on your entrance exams. However, power is not the most important thing about a Soul Reaper. The key to success is the knowledge and training to utilize that power effectively." He started walking up and down the rows of students. "Far to often does a Soul Reaper fail his mission or get passed over for the promotion he wants not because he is lacking the power and abilities necessary, but because he doesn't use them efficiently. The opposite is also possible, where souls with low spirit energy are successful and move up the ranks because they understand and can use their power effectively."

"As the Advanced class, we at the academy expect great things from you. But that doesn't mean you get to slack off. If anything, this means you need to work harder. The grading curve for your class will force you to push yourselves to your limits. Get all thoughts of breezing through this academy out of your head right now. You WILL work hard if you plan to graduate."

Karin shifted in her seat. For some reason, although the teacher was scanning all the students as he talked, she felt like he was talking directly to her.

The instructor took a deep breath. "Since it is your first day, and you will need to find your classrooms, I'll let you out a few minutes early. Use your free time wisely. Class Dismissed!"

All the students stood up and bowed. Karin started gathering her books and realized something.

"Hey, what are you guys taking? Keiko and I only have two classes together since she's on the pre-Kido Corps track and I'm not." She asked the two guys sitting next to her.

Junji pulled out his schedule and handed it to her. "Gyou-kun and I have the exact same schedule. You probably do to, since it's just basic stuff for first-year Advanced class future Soul Reapers."

Karin checked his schedule and found that he was right.

"Well, in that case, how about we head over to first-year Hoho together?" Karin noticed that Keiko had already left, probably to get the best seat in her next class.

Both boys agreed, and they walked out of the classroom. Suddenly, Karin had a thought. "Uh, do either of you know where Hoho is actually taught?"

"Um..." Gyou looked at their schedule. "The schedule says it's in practice room 213B. Junji, do you have the map?"

"I thought you had the map! Rin-chan, have you got a map?"

Karin checked her bag. "I must have left mine in my room. Sorry."

"Can I help you?"

Karin, Junji and Gyou turned to the speaker. He was standing behind them with his book bag over his shoulder and a notebook in his hand. He had black hair and striking green eyes, and seemed to give off an air of disinterest. He seemed to be starring at Karin for some reason.

"Yeah, do you know how to get to classroom 213B? First-year Hoho?" Junji asked.

The other boy nodded. He pointed to the stairs. "Go up those stairs, turn left, turn right at the end of the hall, and it will be the last door on your right."

Karin gave a short bow. "Thanks, uh... I don't think I caught your name."

The boy blinked, showing the barest hint of surprise. Was he actually surprised someone would want to know his name. "Oshiro Suzaku, second year."

Karin smiled. "Well, nice to meet you, and thanks Oshiro-sempai."

She then raced up the stairs with Junji and Gyou, leaving her Sempai stunned.

* * *

"It is a well known fact among the 13 Court Guard Squads that Zanjutsu is the most important fighting style." The instructor began.

_I think I'd be more willing to believe that if I hadn't heard the exact same speech in Hoho, Kido, and Hakuda._

"As such, your future as a Soul Reaper is primarily dependent on how well you do in this class." The instructor walked down the row of students, taking a moment to look each of them intimidatingly in the eye. "I expect nothing less than the best from my Advanced class. Do not disappoint me."

He walked over to a rack of wooden swords. "Now, take a practice sword and pair up in groups of two to practice your basic techniques."

Karin fell in line behind Junji. Part of her was really surprised, most of her other classes today hadn't included much actual practice, and had mostly consisted of a long-winded explanation of how important the subject matter was. Maybe this ment Zanjutsu really was the most important fighting style.

When she got her sword, Karin then had to try looking for a partner. Unfortunately, Junji and Gyou were partnered up together, and Keiko wasn't in this class, so she didn't know any of the people who were open.

Suddenly, she saw a blonde head storming het way. It only took a few seconds for Karin to recognize her as Kira Nagami, the girl who seemed determined to piss her off. Unfortunately, she had been in every one of Karin's classes, and Zanjutsu was the last class of the day.

"You and I will spar." The blonde stated.

Karin grumbled. "Fine, but you could have asked nicely."

The instructor showed them how to properly hold their swords and went around correcting their mistakes. When her got to Karin and Nagami, he frowned.

"Wrap all your fingers around the sword completely. You don't want to loose your grip in the middle of your swing."

Nagami chuckled at Karin's humiliation. Karin grimaced and tried to correct her mistake.

"What, is this your first time holding a sword, Shiba-san?" Nagami mocked. "And you really expect to become a Soul Reaper."

Karin felt the sting of her words like a punch in the stomach.

"Not everyone here has had the fortune of being born into a house that started training their children at a young age." The teacher chastised Nagami. "And your posture is sloppy now."

Karin felt a little relief at that, but it didn't address what had really bothered her about Nagami's comment. The fact is, she didn't_ know_ if she had held a sword before in her life, and had no way of finding out that or many other things about her past. How could she expect to become a Soul Reaper with so many gaps in her memory?

After he finished nitpicking all the students, the teacher returned to the front of the class. "Now, for the rest of this class, I want you to spar with your partner. I'm not going to teach you any techniques yet, so just use your imagination. I want to see what your reflexes come up with." He raised his right hand. "Are you in position? On my mark, you will start fighting. One, two, THREE." He lowered his hand and the students began their attacks.

Karin almost didn't raise her sword in time to block Nagami's swing. When the force of their clash registered in her brain, Karin was glad she had adjusted her grip, since otherwise she would have lost her sword from Nagami's first swing.

The blonde had an evil grin on her face. "You're in big trouble missy. I've been taking lessons since I was big enough to pick up a sword. You don't stand a chance."

"You are taking this fight WAY to seriously!" Karin gasped in excretion. She tried to get a hit in, but was blocked. "What is your problem with me anyway?"

"Oh, who said I had a problem with you?" Nagami asked.

"Well, considering all you've ever done is glare at me and try to make fun of me, I'd say you must have some kind of issue." Karin replied, trying to focus on dodging her opponent's sword.

Nagami continued her onslaught. "I don't know what you're talking about." She gave a little smirk that told Karin that was a lie. It also made the girl look a little crazy as she attacked Karin.

Karin felt something bump her leg, and realized she had almost run into the wall. Nagami was backing her into a corner. Karin could tell that she needed to attack now if she wanted to walk away from this fight feeling like she had some dignity left, but it was taking everything she had to block with her level of skills.

Nagami lifted her sword over her head, poised to give a strong hit, that even if they were wooden swords would leave Karin with some difficult injuries.

Karin panicked. She tried to slash at Nagami's unprotected stomach, but before either girl could complete their swings, the Teacher's voice echoed around them.

"STOP FIGHTING THIS INSTANT!"

All the students turned to look at him. His face was red, and he appeared to be fuming about something. "This is first-year intro to Zanjutsu. You will NOT use any spirit attacks in this class. I should not have felt a rise in spiritual pressure for ANY reason. Now, who is responsible?"

The whole class stood in complete silence; nobody seemed interested in confessing. Karin honestly couldn't understand what he was talking about. How was spiritual pressure raised, and why did that make the teacher so mad?

A slightly familiar voice came from behind their instructor. "Sensei? May I speak?"

The instructor's face softened. "Ah, Oshiro-san. Class, this is Oshiro Suzaku, your sempai and my teaching assistant for this class."

The entire class bowed and chanted, "Hello, Oshiro-sempai."

The older student who had spoken up stepped forward, and Karin recognized him as the guy who had given her directions to her first class. He addressed their teacher again. "Sensei, since they are only first years, it is highly unlikely that they have enough control over their spirit energy to do that deliberately. It was more likely that someone with unusually high spiritual pressure unconsciously responded to the stress of battle."

Karin felt a little insulted from the way he said "only first years", but decided to leave it.

The instructor relented. "That is a good point. I guess the culprit will remain unpunished, but take this as a warning, I will NOT tolerate attacks that aren't Zanjutsu in this class, no matter the reason."

He marched to a set of boxes at the back of the practice area. "Since we are on the topic of spirit energy, and class is almost over, I might as well give you these." He opened the boxes and Karin gasped to see they where filled with Katanas."Oshiro-san, could you pass these out please?"

The assistant nodded and started gathering the swords.

"What you are receiving are called Asauchi. They are empty Zanpakuto. Although it is to dangerous to let you practice with them, you will keep them with you at all times. You will even sleep with them by your beds. And if by some miracle you are lucky enough, you will hear it calling you by the time you graduate." He explained. "If not, then it will be much harder for you to rise up the ranks in the 13 court Guard squads."

Karin looked at the small Katana Suzaku-sempai handed her. This was going to be her sword.

Before he continued to the next person, Suzaku-sempai whispered in her ear. "I thought your increase in spiritual pressure was rather impressive, but I would suggest you avoid sparring with that particular opponent in the future, at least until you learn how to control that vast spirit energy and your emotions."

He then walked away, leaving Karin stunned.

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	7. Chapter 7

**Happy St. Patrick's Day! Ok, first things first, on my profile there is a link to a petition that you need to sign. If we don't get enough signatures, they are going to have to shut down . None of us want that, but we still need a lot of signatures. Do that right now.  
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**I've been excited for this chapter for a while, and I'm sure most of you have been too. Constructive criticism is always welcome, as well as praise. Since there seems to be some confusion, Gyou is Ukitake's Great-nephew. That means one of Ukitake's brothers in Gyou's grandfather. Since Ukitake is literally one of the oldest Captains, I find it hard to believe any of his siblings or their children are still at an age to go to the academy. Feel free to ask me any other questions if you have them.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach. YOU HEAR ME? SO DON'T GET RID OF FANFICTION!**

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Karin chewed her lunch quickly. Between classes, the homework that came from those classes, and her attempts at practicing outside of class, Karin didn't have much time to socialize outside of class. Lunchtime was probably the one time of day she knew for sure she could hang out with all her friends at once, and she didn't want to waste more time than necessary eating.

Her band of close friends wasn't that big. Nagami had somehow managed to make herself the most popular girl in their class, though how she had managed to do that Karin would never know. Her personality certainly left a lot to be desired. Although, she was very adept at the art of flattery and networking. It probably helped her case that she came from a lesser noble family and also, apparently had a cousin who was a fukutaichou. Karin hadn't wanted to know, but since her rival would tell anyone who would listen, she had heard that piece of information multiple times.

Luckily, Keiko had already taken a liking to Karin long before Nagami had started her subtle takeover. Keiko was probably the only girl besides Karin who didn't worship the ground beneath Nagami's feet. Keiko was the only other girl in Karin's group of friends, there were certain things Karin could talk to her about that she didn't necessarily feel comfortable discussing with the boys. That, combined with the fact they lived literally right next to each other, more than made up for the fact they had so few classes together.

Gyou was a valuable knowledge base. Since he came from a pretty high-ranking noble family, he had a vast knowledge of what was socially acceptable and where people ranked, plus he knew a little about how things worked in the 13 Court Guard Squads because of his great-uncle. Karin found his help invaluable when trying to understand the ever-changing social situation among the students, and was also was helpful in history.

Junji was the most easy-going of her friends. He, quote, "didn't give a damn about all those social niceties all those higher-ups in the Seireitei insist on." He had a tendency to come off a little blunt and rude at times, but it wasn't much different from how Kukaku-nee was at home, so Karin was used to it. He blamed his lack of manners on being from the 66th district of East Rukon, but Karin personally thought that was just an excuse.

The fourth member of Karin's little gang was unexpected, and a little different from the others. After the incident in her first class of Zanjutsu, Karin had decided to keep an eye on Oshiro Suzaku to make sure he wasn't going to tell sensei that it was she who had raised her spiritual pressure. While quietly observing him, she realized that he seemed to be mostly alone. He wouldn't talk with people more than absolutely necessary, and he seemed to view most of his classmates, and the rest of the whole school, as not worth his time. As such, he didn't appear to have any friends. After the third day of classes, Karin decided to take pity on the second-year student and moved her entire lunch table to where their sempai was sitting alone. Although he had appeared surprised, Suzaku hadn't kicked them out, and was now starting to ease up around them.

Having a friend a year ahead of you soon proved to have several perks. Suzaku had already taken all of their classes (except Keiko's pre-Kido Corps classes), and was more than willing to be a tutor of sorts. Karin was eternally grateful for his help. Her classes weren't very easy.

Kido wasn't all that bad, and Karin continuously scored high marks in that class. But she couldn't help but think it was primarily due to Keiko's help. When she knew the incantation, Karin found that it wasn't that hard to release the energy how she wanted it to. But that was the hard part: memorizing the incantation. When she had heard that advanced Kido users could cast spells without the incantation, Karin had jumped for joy, until her instructor had pointed out that doing so diminished the effects of the spell.

Hakuda was a pain. Literally. Every day, that class started with exercises that pushed her body to the limit in ways she didn't know were possible. Karin was able to hold her own in a fight, but she definitely wasn't the best in the class, and always received a lot of punches whenever she had to spar with anyone else in that class. It was always worse whenever she faced off against one of the pre-Stealth Force students they shared that class with.

Hoho was the one class Karin felt like she actually did well in. Although she couldn't do a flash step yet, Karin was one of the fastest runners in that class and their instructor thought she was very close to achieving that pivotal skill. All the pre-Stealth Force students hated her for this, and that was probably the reason they were so brutal in Hakuda.

Zanjutsu was a challenge, but not unbearably so. Karin avoided fighting with Nagami in that class, as well as all her other classes, and she had no other instances of unwanted spikes in spiritual pressure. She usually ended up sparring with whichever unfortunate soul was picked last that day (since Gyou and Junji always sparred with each other in the first round) and they didn't pose much of a challenge for Karin's average skill. When Sensei forced them to switch partners she would always get with one of her boys, and they would actually challenge her understanding of the material. However, the past couple of days there has been an odd number of students since someone was sick with the flue, and Karin, Gyou and Junji had alternated fighting each other and Suzaku.

Now that she thought about it, Karin didn't remember if the guy was back in class yet or not. She turned to Gyou and asked, "Hey, do you know if we're going to have to be a threesome?"

For some reason, Junji found that comment hilarious. Gyou glared at him, and Karin was starting to think there was some kind of dirty joke there that she missed.

Gyou turned back to her after making Junji hide his chuckles. "Ignore him, he's a pervert. To answer your question, I didn't see that guy back in class all day, so unless someone else got sick I'm afraid we will."

Karin nodded.

Suzaku looked up from his textbook. "Your Zanjutsu sensei is out sick today."

"What?" Junji shouted. "Does that mean we get the day off?"

"Hardly." Suzaku tried to return to his book, disinterested in what was going on. "A Taichou is coming over to cover your class temporarily."

"Really?" Gyou asked. "Which one?"

Suzaku sighed and looked up from his book again. "I haven't met him, but I heard he's in charge of the tenth division."

"Are you sure it's the tenth?" Gyou asked.

Suzaku nodded, but didn't look up from his book.

"Gyou-kun, do you know the taichou of squad 10?" Junji asked.

"I've never met him, but I've heard of him. If what I've heard is correct, make sure you don't mention his size and age. He's really sensitive." Gyou explained.

Keiko sighed. "You guys get all the fun.I wish one of my classes were taught by a Taichou."

"I'll be sure to tell you all about it." Karin promised.

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When Karin finally made it to Zanjutsu class, she silently thanked Gyou for his earlier warning. Karin probably wouldn't have done or said anything rash, but Junji wouldn't have known to keep his mouth shut.

As it was, most of the other students seemed to be struggling to keep their composure. The boy standing at the front of the room prepared to teach the class looked to be the same age as most of the students, and actually younger than some of the older ones. Not to mention, he also appeared to be short for his age, and Karin wondered idly if he had hit his puberty growth spurt yet. His hair was white and stood up with lazy spikes from his wore the traditional black Kimono of a Soul Reaper, as well as a blue scarf and a white haori Gyou had told her was the symbol of a Taichou's rank. There was a sword strapped to his back.

Suzaku stood next to the Taichou. Despite their difference in height, Suzaku was able to keep his cool demeanor, as though taking instruction from a child was a natural occurrence.

But Karin wasn't interested in how her friend was doing. She was captivated by the taichou standing in front of her. Even with her under-developed senses, Karin could sense the waves if power radiating off him. He probably was letting his spiritual power go on full blast to let the students know not to underestimate him. He probably had to deal with a lot of people refusing to take him seriously, and Karin couldn't blame him for taking precautions.

And there was something else. When Karin saw his face, she almost felt a wave of... nostalgia? Recognition? Karin couldn't figure it out for sure, but she was almost certain she had seen him before. She just couldn't remember.

"Is everyone here?" The Taichou asked. When nobody answered, he took that as a conformation. "Good. I am Hitsugaya Toshiro, Taichou of squad 10. I will be temporarily instructing this class until your regular Sensei is capable of returning to his duties. You will refer to me either as Hitsugaya-taichou or Sensei. Am I understood?"

The whole class chorused "Yes, Hitsugaya-taichou."

Hitsugaya-taichou nodded. "Good. Begin your warm-up exercises. Oshiro-san, you are more familiar with how this class normally operates, you will direct them while I scrutinize."

Suzaku gave a small bow and started directing the students. After watching for a short while from his original position, the Taichou started walking among the students, giving harsh corrections as he saw them. He scrutinized every aspect in the students, and there were very few he didn't find some problem with.

As he made his way around the room, Karin started to feel a little nervous. What if she messed up right when he came to watch her? Despite the irrationality of it, Karin felt like a hundred eyes were watching her every move. She repeatedly checked to see if the Taichou was watching her, but every time she looked he was criticizing someone else. For some reason, that made Karin feel a little... jealous.

Finally, _finally_ he came inching up to where Karin was. She put all her effort into doing exactly what the Sensei taught her. The white-haired Taichou scrutinized her for several swings before finally speaking.

"You're too tense. The movements need to be fluid, not forced." He frowned. "You were doing very well when I watched you from the other end of the room. You just need to relax."

Karin nodded and tried to relax her muscles.

He turned to go to the next student. "And don't forget to breathe."

Karin let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She heard a snicker not far off, and it sounded suspiciously like Nagami's oh-look-Karin-messed-up-let's-rub-it-in-her-face snicker.

When their exercises where done, Hitsugaya-taichou returned to the front of the room. "Now then," he began, "since I don't know what is supposed to be next in your curriculum, I am going to have you practice in practical applications of what you learn here. I want you to get into groups of two and practice. Any questions?"

"Um, sir?" Suzaku cut in. "There is an odd number of students today."

Hitsugaya-taichou frowned. "How did you rectify this problem in the past?"

"There was one group of three, and they would rotate sparring with each other and battling me." The teaching assistant answered.

"Do that then."

Karin, Gyou and Junji of course became the group of three and Suzaku joined them as the other students started their fights. When he got to them, he motioned to Karin.

"How about you and I start?" Karin agreed, and the two of them got into position.

Karin spent so much time around Suzaku that at times, she forgot he was a year ahead of them in schooling. But that all changed whenever he picked up a sword. If anything, Karin was left wondering how he was only in second year. His skill with a blade put him in the top of his class, and Karin had heard rumors from the teachers that he was better than some of the graduating students. It certainly explained his air of superiority he showed around his classmates, an air he seemed to abandon whenever he was around Karin.

It took everything Karin had to keep Suzaku's sword at bay, and she knew that he wasn't even trying. Karin did have one advantage over Suzaku: if she tried, she could move much faster than him. Of course, that only did so much good since he could read her movements like a book.

But for some reason, Karin didn't want to admit Suzaku was stronger than her today. For some reason, she was determined to win. Her movements got faster and faster as she tried to find an opening, surprise him, do SOMETHING that could give her the upper hand in this fight. She wanted so badly to beat Suzaku, and she could imagine the Taichou complimenting her for a job well done...

"Karin, stop." Suzaku whispered as he blocked her most recent attack.

"Why?" Karin asked. "Afraid I might actually beat you?"

He grit his teeth. "That's not it. Just stop fighting right now."

"Your spiritual pressure is increasing." A firm voice explained behind her.

Karin gasped and turned around to face Hitsugaya-Taichou.

"While you were fighting, your spiritual pressure increased in response to the stress of the battle. Has this ever happened before?" He asked.

"Um..." Karin cast a quick glance at Suzaku, and he nodded. She sighed in resignation. "Once, on our first day of classes, I Sensei threw a fit when he sensed someone's spiritual pressure rising. Suzaku-sempai convinced him to drop it, but afterwards sempai told me I had been the one responsible and advised me to avoid fighting that particular opponent in the future."

Taichou frowned and looked to Suzaku-sempai for an explanation.

Suzaku quickly explained. "I sensed her spiritual pressure spiking the first day, but was able to guess that it was an instinctual reaction and she had no idea what she was doing. I knew that sensei is very strict about nothing but Zanjutsu going on in his classroom, so I talked him down and advised Shiba-san to avoid a situation like that in the future. I have kept an eye on her spirit energy during class, and although it does rise slightly every time she spars with someone, but never to a level anyone would notice if they weren't looking."

Karin's eyes grew wide in shock. She didn't know about that.

"I see." Hitsugaya-taichou frowned. "Have you begun any training in managing your spiritual pressure yet?"

"Uh, what?" Karin asked. They taught classes like that to first-years?

"Jinzen? Hiding your spirit energy? None of that?" He raised his eyes, exasperated. "What are they teaching you people on the regular track?"

"Um..."

"Never mind." He waved her off. "I think you need to start talking to your advisor about getting into some classes about managing your spirit energy a little early. You aren't at a point that you could be a danger to those around you yet, but you do need to start getting prepared. Training will only increase your spiritual pressure, and you should be ready to keep it at bay as it gets out of control."

"Dangerous?" Karin suddenly thought of Ba-chan's grandson. "What I'm doing is dangerous?"

Taichou suddenly realized her was scaring her and backed off. "No, no. What you're doing right now is nothing but an intimidation technique almost all high-level Soul Reapers use in battle. It's harmless." He looked at Karin carefully, as though he was scrutinizing her soul. "However, considering how high your spirit energy is now, I would still suggest the extra lessons, as a precautionary measure. I could personally drop a word the next time go by the school office, if you want. What's your name again?" He asked.

"Karin. Shiba Karin. And I would really appreciate it if you did drop a word, Taichou. They probably won't believe the word of a first-year easily."

When Karin said her name, she saw something flash behind Hitsugaya-taichou's eyes. Something akin to... recognition? In was gone the next moment, and his face had returned to the stern taichou who demanded respect.

"I see. I will make sure to do that, Shiba-san." For some reason, it sounded almost like he was forcing himself to call her by that name.

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	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the long wait. I actually had most of the first version of this chapter writen within two days of posting chapter 7, but my phone did something wierd and I lost it. After that happened, I didn't feel up to writing or doing anything other than crawling into bed and eating jar after jar of nutella... also, I tried going back and reading my earlier writings, but was so horrified by how bad it was. I really could use a Beta.  
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**Anyway, the moral of this story is, I might not update as often or regularly as I should, but that's just the way it is. I'm sorry, but sometimes the words just don't come, or I don't have the time. Don't be afraid to give contructive criticism, since it's how I know what to fix. And please don't give up on this story!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Bleach Universe. Even though I would love to own Toshiro.**

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Hitsugaya Toshiro was not looking forward to teaching a class at the Academy. His own experience as a student had been short, but it did give him enough understanding of the typical first-year and their attitude. With few exceptions they were all convinced of their own superiority and had about as much tolerance for the unusual as the people in village Toshiro grew up in. If the Taichou of squad 10 wanted this class to go smoothly, he was going to have to be very careful and not do anything to loose their respect.

Luckily, his assistant seemed helpful. Oshiro Suzaku had met with Toshiro before class started and described where the class was in the syllabus with an attention to detail the Taichou wished more of his subordinates had. As the class filed in, Toshiro was grateful for the second-year student standing by his side, since it was probably the reason why the younger students limited their outrage to testing glares and hateful whispers.

Toshiro eyed each of the students, trying to come of as menacing enough to earn respect, but not unapproachable. They seemed to mostly have an average amount of Spiritual Pressure for a lower-level Soul Reaper, though it was all unrefined and untrained. There were a few spiritual pressures near the back that seemed to have potential, and Toshiro looked to see who owned them for future reference...

Karin. Kurosaki Karin. Toshiro couldn't believe it was actually her. It took most of his self-control to stop himself from making some kind of a scene, and the rest to keep himself from losing his cool and most of the class's respect. How was she here? Better yet, why hadn't she tried to find her brother? Didn't she realize that Ichigo was missing her?

But now was not an appropriate time to ask those questions. Not when there was a class full of students waiting for their child-like substitute teacher to mess up. He would have to wait until after class was over to interrogate her. Toshiro pushed his worries about Karin to the back of his mind and started the class.

After introducing himself, Toshiro let the class start their drills so he could gage for himself where they were skill wise. He wasn't very impressed, but then again it is very hard to impress the Taichou of squad 10. He eventually started going around the room, giving the most noticeable corrections as he saw them, hoping that some of his advice would be used to improve.

He worked his way across the classroom, until Toshiro reached the place where Karin was practicing. He couldn't help but glance her way every so often as he went from person to person, but now he had an excuse to observe her carefully. Her skills were actually much better than most of the others in the class, but it wasn't perfect. She actually seemed to acquire a different set of mistakes as Toshiro got closer to her. She didn't give any indication of recognizing him, but it was probably just because she didn't want to make a scene during class. Toshiro decided to hold off on any potential discussions until after class, so he simply corrected her like any other student and walked away.

Once the drills were finished, Toshiro started them sparring with one another, both since it was another good exercise and in order to get a better understanding of where the class was in practical applications. He was a little relieved to see Karin was part of the group of three, since it gave him an excuse to pay extra attention to her. She was fighting against the older student, so it made since for him to monitor their battle more closely.

Toshiro was very impressed with Karin's abilities. He could tell Oshiro-san was at a level much higher than even the typical second-year, but Karin was still holding her own against him. It was still obvious to Toshiro that his assistant was much more skilled than his old friend though, and some of her counterattacks looked a little desperate. He could even tell that her spirit energy was spiking in frustration, which probably wasn't good.

When her spiritual pressure reached a point that Toshiro was starting to worry it might influence those around her, he decided to stop her fight. He wasn't surprised to find that Oshiro-san was already trying to convince her to step down, since the assistant had already proven to be observant. He was surprised to find that Karin didn't have a clue what he was talking about. Didn't Ichigo tell her anything about the powers of a Soul Reaper, and didn't Urahara teach her a little control already? He would have to ask her about that as well after class.

Toshiro listened when his assistant explained what had happened on the first day of class. It didn't really surprise him; Ichigo and most of the Captains do something similar in important battles. He was concerned that she didn't have very much control over her spirit energy yet. It made sense to wait till later to teach the typical student how to manage their spiritual pressure, since they usually didn't have enough to work with during their first few years. But Toshiro knew from his own experience that exceptions could be made if need be, and it was definitely needed with Karin.

The first thing that really startled him was when Karin said her name. Shiba Karin. Technically correct, but not the one she usually used. Toshiro had asked for her name since he figured she was using some different name to stay off her brother's radar, since that was the only thing he could think of to explain her actions. But he hadn't thought she would use her father's well-known family name, especially since he didn't remember her having all that great of a relationship with him. He wasn't even sure she knew about her father's past in the Soul society.

One more thing to discuss after class.

After promising to talk to Karin's advisor, Toshiro told the group of 3 to switch so Karin could spar with one of the younger students. The rest of the class went on without any other problems, but Toshiro had to get on the case of a few other girls in the class for gossiping when they should be practicing. When the bell finally rang for the end of class, Toshiro dismissed them with the promise to practice their new material.

Toshiro caught up with Karin before she could leave. "Shiba-san, would you mind staying for a little bit?"

The girl nodded. "Sure, Hitsugaya-taichou. What do you need me for?"

"Just a couple of questions." Toshiro eyed the two boys that were lingering by the door, preventing him from being upfront about what he wanted to ask. "Why are you Shiba-san?"

She looked completely confused. "What do you mean, why am I a Shiba?"

He sighed, hoping that she would be able to explain this to her friends since she seemed so intent on keeping her identity a secret. "I mean..."

She brightened, seemingly to have realized something. "Oh! You must know Kukaku-nee and Ganju-nii and didn't think they had any little siblings. I'm sorry, I was only adopted into the family recently since they found me without any memories of my past."

Toshiro gasped and looked at her. "You... don't have any memories of your past?"

"Uh-huh." Karin nodded. "Not before Ganju-nii caught me trying to steal their food."

Toshiro frowned. "I see. You should get going."

The girl nodded and left with the two boys hovering at the door.

Toshiro's frown deepened. Karin didn't have any memories? She didn't even know who she was? How could this have happened? What's worse... was she even really Karin? Could she just be another girl who happened to look exactly like Kurosaki Karin? Toshiro didn't believe in coincidences, but he couldn't ignore the possibility. Not to mention, it wasn't even his place to decide those kind of things.

He looked over to where his assistant was cleaning up the practice swords and decided to try and get some secondary information. "Oshiro-san, am I right in understanding that you and Shiba-san are close?"

The boy looked up and considered Toshiro's statement. "I suppose so. She sort of dragged me into her group of friends."

Toshiro nodded. "What do you know about her life before she came to the academy?"

"Um..." The assistant thought. "Honestly, what she said just now is basically the first I've heard about any part of her life before the academy. I know that she was adopted by the Shiba clan, and I know that she likes her family even if they are over the top at times. I'm sorry, but that's all I know."

Toshiro nodded. "I see."

The second year student looked a little uncomfortable. "May I speak my mind, Hitsugaya-taichou?"

Toshiro blinked, not sure what this was about. "Sure."

"Karin-chan really didn't mean for her spirit energy to get out of control like that. She's just one of those people who naturally have more spirit energy than other people. Please don't turn her in for... well, I don't know what, but she didn't do anything wrong!"

Oh. Of course. That was the only reason the assistant had for Toshiro to take an interest in Karin. "Don't worry, she really didn't do anything wrong. I'm actually asking about her for... other reasons." Toshiro wasn't sure he felt comfortable telling anybody who wasn't involved about who Karin might be.

"Ah." The second-year student blinked. "Taichou, can I ask, do you know how Hirako-taichou is doing?"

"Shinji-taichou? Pretty well, I guess. I'm not very close to him, but I don't have any reports of him being injured or anything."

"Do you think he might come by the academy some time?"

"I don't know. It depends on weather or not he has a reason to, I guess." Toshiro couldn't think of a reason for the boy to be so obsessed with the visard taichou.

When they finished cleaning up the classroom, Toshiro headed towards the school's office to talk to Shiba Karin's advisor. The man was about as big as the squad two fukutaichou, and had tried to tell Toshiro he was interrupting something important. He listened to what Toshiro said with a look the young taichou recognized for meaning "oh, I need to pretend to listen to him sense he's a taichou, but I won't take anything he says seriously sense he's a kid." Toshiro hoped, for Karin's sake, that this wasn't the case. She really did need those extra classes.

After Toshiro felt that he had made his point as best he could, he headed across the city to the Squad 10 barracks, where he knew a pile of paperwork Rangiku hadn't done would be waiting for him. Along the way, Toshiro found himself unconsciously drawn to the squad 8 barracks. He had been helping out over there since the new taichou had been appointed, so Toshiro's feet had probably gotten used to walking that way when they weren't walking to squad 10. I was probably just as well, since Toshiro had something he needed to discuss with the taichou.

Toshiro walked in the main building. The various officers were scrambling around, doing their duties, though several stopped to greet the young Taichou with a small bow. Toshiro returned the greetings and marched up to where the current third seat was working at his desk.

"Is your taichou in?" Toshiro asked.

The officer nodded. "He's in his office. Just go right in, Hitsugaya-taichou."

Toshiro nodded and stepped into the squad 8 Taichou's office.

Kurosaki Ichigo was sitting at his desk. There were piles of paperwork stacked on either side of him, and he appeared to be busy working on one of the many forms piled high. His Zanpakuto was leaning against the wall to the side, since the Taichou of squad 8 couldn't exactly sit with that giant thing on his back. His haori was also removed.

"Hey! Toshiro, how are you doing? Did you have fun teaching the next generation of Soul Reapers?" Ichigo looked up from his work, smiling.

"First of all, It's Hitsugaya-taichou, Kurosaki-san. And why aren't you wearing your Haori?" Toshiro noticed.

Ichigo shrugged. "Eh, it's stuffy in here. I was hot. Is there anything specific you wanted to talk about?"

Toshiro closed the door. "Actually there is." Toshiro thought about it for a moment, trying to figure out how to begin. "I met someone interesting at the academy."

"Oh, really?" Ichigo chuckled. "Don't tell me your joining the 'make Ichigo choose a fukutaichou' brigade, are you? Shinji already said he thinks he found someone, but refuses to tell me who."

"It's actually not about that, though they did have a lot if potential and would make a great officer." Toshiro thought about it, and decided it would be best to just say it how it was. "I saw a girl that looks exactly like your Imouto-chan, Karin."

Ichigo froze.

"She has a high amount of spirit energy, which isn't surprising, sense she could see spirits when she was still alive." Toshiro continued. "She hasn't even begun to control it though, which wouldn't have been a problem if she still had her memories..."

"Wait," Ichigo turned. "Did you just say she doesn't have any memories?"

"Yeah, which explains why she didn't recognize me..."

"So in other words, you don't know for sure if she actually is my little sister?"

"No, but... if you just met her..."

"No."

Toshiro looked up at the orange-haired Soul Reaper. "You don't want to see her? But I thought that would be what you wanted."

"If she wasn't able to recognize you, then it probably isn't her." Ichigo stated firmly. "And besides... I don't deserve to be her nii-chan."

"What are you talking about?" Toshiro practically shouted. "What do you mean you don't deserve to be her nii-san?"

Ichigo's lips formed a hard line. "Please, just drop it Hitsugaya-taichou."

Toshiro grumbled and eventually left for his own division. It wasn't until after he had woken up Rangiku from her drunken stupor that he realized Ichigo had actually used his last name and title.

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	9. Chapter 9

**Hey everybody! This is another chapter that probably could have been split into two, but the first part was to short. As always, constructive criticism is always apreciated!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Bleach**

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When Karin walked into Zanjutsu class one week after Hitsugaya-taichou had come to teach, she was disappointed to see their old instructor instead of the short, white-haired Taichou. She had grown to rather like the superior officer, even though he did have a habit of acting very strange around her. But then again, Karin did have a bad habit of unintentionally falling over herself around him, so she figured it was just as well. Junji had actually tried teasing her about "having a crush on the chibi-taichou," but had stopped after she kneed him in the groin.

Karin refused to let any romantic feelings show for anyone. If she was really interested in becoming a Soul Reaper, she would have to be completely focused. Although Junji, Gyou, Suzaku, and even Hitsugaya-taichou were all really nice guys, she couldn't think of them as more than friends and comrades. Not that was interested in any of them anyway. She only appreciated Hitsugaya-taichou's power and guidance. That was it. Honest.

When their sensei made them go through another set of seemingly random movements, Karin couldn't help but miss the small taichou and his explanations. While their sensei usually just told them to learn the moves and stop complaining, Hitsugaya-taichou would actually give them examples of situations where the moves would be useful. While their sensei generally stood at the front of the class and yelled out one or two word corrections, Hitsugaya-taichou would come up to each of them individually and suggest improvements. And most importantly, Karin wasn't scared of losing control of her spirit energy and getting in trouble around Hitsugaya-taichou.

When the boring Zanjutsu class finally came to an end, Karin quickly packed up her stuff and left with her friends. After eavesdropping on Karin when she admitted to missing most of her memories, both Gyou and Junji had become more and more overprotective of their little "Kar-chan" or "Rin-chan", depending on who was talking. It was oddly comforting, and so far hadn't become a problem, but there was the occasional moment when she was tempted to hit both of them upside the head. Just cause she didn't remember her past didn't mean she was helpless.

When they got to the hallway, Junji noticed a poster on the wall and read it out loud. "Do you have what it takes? Come learn what requirements you need to get into the squad of your choice!" He turned back to them. "You guys know anything about this?"

Gyou rubbed his chin, reading the fine print on the poster and thinking. "Well, obviously there are some squads that you need to take certain classes to get into. For instance, squad two and the stealth force have their own set of required courses that are slightly different from ours. I wouldn't be surprised if squad 12 is encouraged to take as many science classes as possible, squad eleven is required to go through all levels of Zanjutsu, and squad 4 is required to take healing Kido classes. Others probably have their own requirements, but we would have to ask about them."

Karin looked at the poster as well. "Do they really expect us to know what squad we want to join? I mean, we're just first-years."

"Not really." Gyou pointed to the bottom of the poster. "See? It's meant for third years and up, but lower class-men are allowed to join."

"Ah. That's good." Karin sighed. "I can't see how anyone would be able to know where they wanted to go at this point, unless they had a personal history with one of the squads."

Gyou nodded. "You have a good point. Even I don't know where I want to go yet, and I've grown up around many of the officers."

Junji looked up, surprised. "You don't know where you want to go? I thought you wanted to be with your ji-san?"

"That does have some truth," Gyou sighed. "But I also don't want everyone to think I'm just there because I'm related to the taichou. I want to get to where I go through my own merit."

"Huh." Junji shrugged. "Well, maybe you can join squad 6 with me."

Gyou looked shocked. "Squad 6? But that's led by Kuchiki-taichou. Why do you want to go there?"

"It's got Abarai Renji for its fukutaichou." Junji sighed. "Every kid in the Rukon district knows that the only way out is to join the Soul Reapers and try not to die to quickly. But it is very rare for anybody from the outer districts to even make it into the academy, much less do well enough to become an officer. Abarai Renji is the first guy I know of to reach the position of fukutaichou from an outer district like me. He's the reason why I know that I still stand a chance, despite my poor origins." He had a faraway look, like he was thinking of terrible things in the past.

Karin looked at her feet. She knew all to well how things were like in the outer districts. Ganju-nii had taken her to several of them. They were all nice to her since she was with Ganju-nii, but she had noticed that most of the kids looked to be struggling. She had tried to help the ones that she found, but she knew that a handful of food could only do so much good. For some reason, it had slipped her mind up till now that Junji had grown up in that kind of environment.

Gyou shook his head. "Well, I guess if that's what you really want. I personally think your personality would be better suited for squad eleven."

Junji smirked and playfully nudged his friend. "Yeah, and then where would you go by that logic? Squad four is where all the pansies go, right?"

Gyou fingered his sheathed Asauchi. "Oh, you so going to regret that when we get to the practice field! I'll show you who's a pansy!"

"Why are you two causing such a racket in the hallway?"

Karin turned around to see Suzaku-sempai coming their way, with his bag thrown over his shoulder. The hand that wasn't holding his bag was buried in his pocket, giving his walk an air of effortlessness. Somehow, Suzaku made almost everything he did look effortless.

"Hey, sempai!" Karin smiled. "We were just discussing which squads we were thinking of joining after the academy."

"Hmmm." The older student grunted.

"Oh yeah!" Gyou turned to Suzaku. "You're a year ahead of us, so you probably have to actually start thinking about this. Do you know where you want to go?"

"Squad five, though I would be fine with squads three, eight, or nine." Suzaku continued walking.

"Really?" Junji looked up, surprised. "Why those specific squads?"

Suzaku looked away from them. "I have my reasons."

Gyou grunted. "Well, to each their own, I guess. Hey, Kar-chan, do you have any idea where you want to go?"

Junji piped up. "I've told you already, it sounds like you're calling her your mother. It's Rin-chan!"

Karin ignored him. "I really don't know. The only actual Soul Reapers I've really met were those two who saved me from squad eleven and Hitsugaya-taichou. I know Ba-chan's grandson is out there somewhere, and Kukaku-nee mentioned knowing some people, so I think I should talk with her before making such a big decision."

Gyou nodded. "That is a good point, Kar-chan."

"Hello?" Junji jumped between the two friends. "Are either one of you listening to me?"

"Did you really think think they were?" Suzaku replied matter-of-factly.

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_Karin opened her eyes to the sight of a bright blue sky, mared very slightly by the occasional white cloud. The expanse of blue reached to the edges of Karin's vision, but from the rough, hard surface digging into her back, she knew it didn't go on forever. _

_This assumption was confirmed when she turned on her side and saw the harsh ground she was laying on. The earth was black and grey, with the crusty appearance of long-abandoned ashes. Every so often, there was a small patch of green that indicated life was trying to come forth, but it was just beginning to grow. _

_Several feet in front of Karin, she saw a large bird with the approximate shape and size of a falcon, but colored completely red. It had a peculiar set of feathers sticking up the top of it's head, and its talons gripped the trunk of a fallen, burned tree. It was the only sign of animal life in this burned wasteland. _

_Somehow, Karin knew that she should trust the bird, though its presence did seem a little scary. Carefuly, Karin reached out her hand towards the bird. _

_At that simple gesture, the bird burst into flame. _

"FIRE!"

Karin opened her eyes to the screams of her dormmates. Groggily, she sat up and tried to register what the problem was. She could hear the screaming, but what really bothered her was the heat...

Karin's eyes grew wide when she caught sight of her room's outer wall. Or rather, the wall of flame that used to be her outer wall. Next thing she knew, she had joined the others in their screaming and was shivering in the courtyard.

How had a fire broken out in the middle of the girls' dorms?

Karin felt two warm arms wrap around her shoulders. Keiko was shaking, obviously with fear. The fire must have spread to her room as well. Knowing her closest female friend, Karin was sure she was more than shaken up.

The group of students who had fled the burning building got larger and more restless as time went on. Karin noticed that Nagami had huddled together with some of her worshipers, who were wondering aloud how the fire had started in the first place. Karin didn't really care, she just wanted to go back to sleep and possibly dream about that red bird a little more.

"Attention! Attention, everyone!"

Karin turned to look at the residential leader for their dorm speaking.

"The fire has been extinguished, and it is OK to go back in the building. There has been minimal damage, but I would like to speak with the residents of rooms 104, 105, 204 and 205. You are dismissed, except for those who I just called."

Karin's stomach did flips. 204 was her room number, and 205 was Keiko's. She didn't know who lived in 104 and 105, but they were probably located just below their rooms. They probably had all received the most damage from the fire, and Karin hoped that was the only reason the residential leader wanted to speak with them.

Reluctantly, she dragged Keiko over to where the residential leader was waiting. She noticed the other two girls were already there. One was a quiet girl Karin thought she recognized from History class, but the other was (to her dismay) Kira Nagami.

The object of Karin's discontent was scowling at her. "What do you want, Shiba-san?"

Karin was about to come up with a snarky comeback when the residential leader spoke up. "Good, you're all here. It is believed that the fire started in one of you four's room. Most of the damage happened in your rooms, so we need to find you new temporary sleeping arrangements till it can be fixed, and we need to launch an investigation."

Keiko looked up. "An investigation? But what if it was an accident?"

"Then no disciplinary action will be taken, but we do need to know what measures need to be taken to prevent this from happening again. Now, follow me." All four girls walked behind her toward to housing center.

Karin couldn't ignore Nagami's piercing glares at her back. It was almost as though the other girl blamed her for the fire.

When the finally made it to the housing center, they were asked to wait in the hallway while their residential leader spoke with the head of housing. Nagami's glares continued to come, and Karin was beginning to feel nervous. She didn't think that she had done anything wrong, but for some reason she felt guilty.

After what felt like hours (though it was probably only a few minutes), the Head of Housing came up to them with their residential leader in tow. She smiled. "Hello girls. Before I can get you settled into new rooms, I need to run a little test. I have a theory about how the fire was started, but I need to test each of you to see if it's even possible."

She pulled out a handheld device with a graduated meter on the side. "This is a device to measure your spirit energy. I just need you to stand still and let me get a reading off each one of you. I will also be feeling your spiritual pressure to sense what kind of element, if any, your spirit energy is most closely associated with."

As the head of housing took the measurements, Karin tried to look at the results on the graduated meter. With the girl Karin didn't know, there was hardly any change. With Nagami, a green light rose up the meter till it was almost one fourth of the way up. With Keiko, a yellow light was visible, but it only got up to about one tenth of the full length.

Finally, it was Karin's turn. She held her breath as the older woman moved the device up and down. She looked at the meter and mirrored the adults' gasps.

The light was bright red, and reached almost to the edge of the measuring tool!

The head of housing spoke up. "What is your name, child?"

Karin looked at her feet. "Shiba Karin."

"Shiba?" The head of housing blinked. "I though Kukaku-sama was the youngest female in that family."

"I was recently adopted into the family."

"Well, Shiba-san, it seems you are an example of an incredibly rare phenomenon. You see, there are sometimes, in a few rare cases, where a person's spirit energy is so high that unless they are continuously limiting their own power it will affect the world around them. It isn't the person's fault, but it does need to be managed. The last time I saw something like this was over 20 years ago, in a small boy with ice powers."

Karin's throat tightened. _Ba-chan's grandson. _

"We are going to have to get you into an energy manipulation class next semester so you can learn to control your power. Until then, you should wear a energy-suppressing device when you sleep." The older woman headed over to a cabinet and pulled out a red wristband. "Here you go. Just slip in on your wrist when you sleep."

Karin took the wristband and put it on. Immediately, she felt drained and as though a part of her had been stolen.

The head of housing continued. "It seems your energy effects fire, so you probably have a fire-type Zanpakuto. I can't wait to see how it turns out." The older woman smiled. "You are going to be a powerful Soul Reaper."

As the adults left to arrange for new rooms, Karin didn't feel powerful. All three of the other girls, even Keiko, were looking at her with disbelief and fear in their eyes. Karin even saw Nagami mouth the word "freak."

Karin had never felt so alone.

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	10. Chapter 10

**Happy Easter! This chapter was a little difficult to write, since I really think of it as "necessary filler" as well as the fact that Karin ends up acting a little... off. Since there is a reason for her acting that way, it shouldn't count as being OOC, but you might still feel like she isn't acting herself. Just a reminder, if you ever feel like I'm drifting off into OOC land without a good reason (like this chapter, or Ichigo in chapter 8) or if you feel like I am making her into a Mary Sue, don't be afraid to call me on that.  
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**In other news, I have recently written a little one-shot caller "For the Son that Needs Me." It has to do with the relationship between Isshin (Ichigo's dad) and Toshiro. Although I don't have any plans for including it into this story, it might make its way into being mentioned in some of my other Bleach stories, so I highly suggest you read it. Also, Reviews tell me how i can get better!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Bleach**

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Karin walked to her homeroom the next day with head down. She was trying to block out the sound of gossip around her, but it was difficult when she had a good idea what they were all talking about. News traveled fast at school, and although very few knew the whole story, everyone knew about the fire.

Although Karin and the other three girls had quickly gotten settled into new rooms, Karin had been unable to sleep for the rest of the night. She knew that the red band around her wrist was supposed to stop the potential fires, but she still couldn't help but fear her own power. Without meaning to, she had caused a lot of damage with only her spirit energy. That isn't the kind of thing that you can sleep after.

When the sun finally rose, Karin had reluctantly started her morning routine, trying to avoid interacting with people as much as possible. Part of it was kind of silly; Karin was afraid that if she got to close to anyone she might accidentally set them on fire. But there was also a part of Karin that just wanted to be left alone with her thoughts. She had known for a long time time that she was different from the other kids, but now she felt that it was impossible to keep up the charade. It would be best if she didn't even try to be one of them.

She ate breakfast by herself, sitting at a table with one seat. She deliberately avoided Keiko, Junji, Gyou and Suzaku. She didn't think that they would want to be her friends if they knew the truth, and she didn't want to face their rejection. Keiko would probably explain things to the guys.

Now she was on her way to homeroom, trying to think of where she could sit now that she didn't want to bother the others anymore. She hoped that some of the seats in the back were still open.

When she entered the classroom, Karin noticed that students were talking in there too. She could guess it was about her, especially since a lot of the girls in her dorm were shooting her strange looks. It was almost like they pitied her. Obviously, they must have figured out the fire was her fault somehow.

Before she could head to the back of the room like she planned, Karin felt a hand on her shoulder. "We were looking for you at breakfast, Rin-chan."

Karin turned around to see Junji, Gyou, and Keiko all looking at her, worried. It was Junji who had his hand on her shoulder, and Gyou was shaking his head.

"It's Kar..." Gyou suddenly noticed Karin's face. "What's the matter, Kar-chan? Was Nagami-chan and her friends mean to you again?"

Junji's hand tightened on her shoulder. "Do you want me to beat them up for you? Just say the word, and I'll introduce them to my fists. Gyou will help too, you know."

Karin tried to shrug her friends off. "What makes you think something is wrong? I just feel like spending some time alone right now."

"Karin-chan..." Keiko looked worried. "Is it about that thing last night?"

Gyou looked at Keiko. "What thing? Does this have something to do with that fire last night?"

"You two didn't get hurt, did you?" Junji was actually taking something seriously for once.

Karin turned to the other girl. "You didn't tell them?"

Keiko shrugged. "It wasn't my place. I'm sorry I didn't try to talk to you earlier, I was just so tired and hadn't comprehended everything until this morning, when you were gone." She pulled Karin into a quick hug. "I'm here if you need to talk, and I'm sure others will be to, once you decide to tell them."

"Yeah, what is this about?" Gyou frowned.

Karin sighed. "It's a long story." She looked around the room at all the potential eavesdroppers. "Can I tell you later? Maybe at lunch, since sempai will probably want to hear it too."

They all nodded and took their seats. The teacher soon came in with a stack of papers he started handing out. Karin read the title, "first-year electives."

"You have all now gone through enough material in your beginning classes that you can decide for yourselves what you want to do next semester. Each first-year, second-term student is allowed two electives in addition to their regular classes required for their graduation plan. As you move on in your studies, your list or required classes will get smaller, but you will still have to complete everything listed for your plan before you graduate. Now, when I call your name, please come up and take your plan with the list of required classes, as well as your elective sign-up sheet."

One by one, each student came up and picked up their forms. When Nagami passed Karin on her way up, she shot the girl a look of absolute disgust. Though Karin would normal have glared back at her nemesis, in her present state of mind it took all her willpower not to sink in her chair and hide under her desk.

"Shiba Karin"

Karin picked up her forms, and noticed that one of them had a note attached.

_Shiba-san, the head of housing informed me of your situation. As your advisor, I am going to have to require that at least one of your electives be a spirit energy control class, which may be found on pages 23-25 in your packet. You should get into any of them that don't have prerequisites. _

Karin sighed and sat down. Just what she needed, another reminder that she was a freak.

Break.

"So, Kar-chan, what happened last night?" Gyou asked.

"It's Rin-chan!" Junji exclaimed from across the table.

"I..." Karin considered how to explain it. "Ok, you know about that fire last night?"

"Of course" Suzaku grimaced. "It seems to be the idle gossip of the day. Even though I try to stay away from the shallow students who want to discuss every silly thing under the sun, I couldn't help but hear about it."

Karin sighed. "Well, it actually started close to where Keiko's and my rooms are. We woke up when the fire started, and were luckily able to make it out all right, but we had to be moved to different rooms temporarily. When they were setting up those new rooms, the head of housing came out and said she had a theory about how the fire started..." she choked up. It wasn't easy to admit something like that to her friends.

Gyou was interested. "What was her theory?"

Karin found that she didn't quite have the courage to say it. She turned to Keiko, silently begging her friend to say what she couldn't.

Luckily, Keiko understood. "She said that it was possible that someone's spirit energy had been so strong that it had affected the world around them."

Junji looked confused. "Is that even possible?"

"Yes." Gyou nodded. "This actually isn't the first I've heard of this phenomenon."

Suzaku looked at Karin. "It was determined to be because of your spirit energy, wasn't it?"

Karin lowered her gaze to her hands. "Yes." She then waited for the rejection of her friends.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Junji spoke up. "That is AWESOME!"

Karin was dumbfounded. "What?"

"You can actually set things on fire with your mind?" Junji continued. "Talk about cool powers! I wish I could do something like that."

"But..." Karin couldn't understand what Junji was talking about. "I almost hurt people! I didn't have any control!"

"Well, that's part of learning." Gyou pointed out. "If you knew how to do everything with your power, you wouldn't have to be in school."

"You guys aren't freaked out?" Karin asked.

"I have known you had an abnormally high amount of spirit energy since the beginning." Suzaku explained. "Although I didn't expect this to happen, I'm not that surprised."

"This doesn't change who you are." Keiko comforted Karin. "We're still friends."

"It just means you need to have a little extra training." Gyou pointed out.

"Yeah, you're still our little Rin-chan" Junji smirked. "Speaking of extra training, what kind of electives are you guys thinking of getting?"

Keiko piped up. "I plan on taking all the Kido courses I can."

"Well, I haven't had a chance to look over all the options yet." Gyou sighed, then turned to Karin. "What about you, Kar-chan?"

"I know that at least one of my electives has to be on controlling my spirit energy." Karin sighed.

"Really?" Junji opened up his packet. "I think I found them. Let's see, there's hiding your spiritual pressure 101, but that looks boring. There's also special advanced Kido, but that's got a lot of prerequisites... Ah! This looks good." He turned the packet around to show the others. "Jinzen 101. It's already a required class for our graduation plan, but they usually suggest taking it during our 4th year. It sounds like it involves a lot of fighting."

"That's... so not what it is about." Suzaku grimaced. "It is actually a meditation class. It has to do with going into your inner world and trying to talk to your Zanpakuto. Yes, your Zanpakuto eventually will help you fight, but it is rare for students to reach that level of communication before graduation. This class is just about getting to know your Zanpakuto and how to get to talk to it."

"Oh." Junji looked at it again. "Well, it still looks like the most interesting class on this list. Do you think Gyou and I could make the requirements to get in?"

"Wait, what?" Gyou asked.

"Why would you guys need to take that class?" Karin asked.

"So our Rin-chan wouldn't have to be all by herself." Junji stated like it was obvious.

"You guys don't have to do that for me." Karin tried to brush it off.

"True..." Gyou considered it. "But this does give us a reason to take one of the classes, when none of the others have any additional appeal. Plus, it is a class we are required to take eventually, so this puts us ahead of the curve."

"I don't see any reason why you two can't make the cut." Suzaku mentioned. "Now that I'm actually paying attention to how high your spiritual pressures are, I can tell you're at a level at least as high as the lowest 6th years, who are required to take the class. I'm planning on taking it next semester as well, so I'll take you guys to get the teacher's approval when I go foe the same thing."

"Great! It's settled then." Junji put a checkmark next to the class description on his packet. "One down, one to go. Any ideas?"

Karin was still recovering from the shocked happiness of her friends offering to go out of their way for her, but she started scanning the rest of the packet. "Um, do you guys know why Calligraphy has been crossed out?"

"I heard that they haven't been able to find a teacher since the last one left." Suzaku commented. "A real shame, especially since I hear it used to be one of the most popular classes."

Gyou frowned. "You don't know who the previous instructor was, do you?"

Suzaku shook his head.

Gyou took a deep breath. "Aizen Sosuke."

Suzaku's eyes narrowed. "Ah. That explains it."

Karin felt a little recognition at the sound of that name. It was as though she should know that name, but it was one of the memories she had lost.

Junji looked at his best friend. "Who's Aizen Sosuke?"

Keiko gasped. "How could you not know who Aizen Sosuke is?"

"Uh, I'm from the Rukon district?" He pointed out.

"Well, I don't know who he is either." Karin looked at Gyou. "But that is probably because of my missing memories. Could you please explain?"

Gyou sighed. "Aizen Sosuke used to be the taichou of squad 5. A couple of years ago, he and two other taichous defected and murdered the entire central 46. Turns out, he had been conducting illegal experiments on hollowification for a while, but was able to hide his traitorous and manipulative nature by blaming others and using his illusion-type Zanpakuto. He was eventually defeated and is imprisoned, but a lot of people are still a little bitter.

Karin nodded. Now what Suzaku had said made sense.

"Well, enough about that depressing subject." Junji tried to lighten the mood. "What should we do for our second elective? If we are still stuck in Hoho, Hakuda, Kido and Zanjutsu as well as Jinzen, we should get a blow-off class so we don't explode from the schoolwork."

"Umm... how about Haiku?" Gyou suggested.

"I enjoyed that class when I took it last year." Suzaku smirked. "It is relatively easy, and the teacher is a fukutaichou."

"That's it! It's official, we are taking Jinzen and Haiku next semester." Junji placed another checkmark on his packet.

"Does that sound good, Kar-chan?" Gyou asked.

Karin nodded.

"I've told you, her name is Rin-chan! Kar-chan sounds to weird." Junji shook his head in exasperation.

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